Life in Chains
by Zetharin
Summary: Life in Chains is a series of shorts following my previous story, Unbreakable Bonds. These should make sense without reading the longer story as long as you take as a given that Ranger, Tank, and Steph are in a newly established, if slightly unconventional, relationship.
1. Oops?

Life in Chains is a series of shorts following my previous story, Unbreakable Bonds. These should make sense without reading the longer story as long as you take as a given that Ranger, Tank, and Steph are in a newly established, if slightly unconventional, relationship.

* * *

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

* * *

**Life in Chains - 01 - Oops!?**

_(Approximately four weeks after their first dinner with Stephanie's parents.)_

The alarm blared and Stephanie swatted at it enough to hit the snooze as Tank chuckled. Her stomach churned. She swallowed convulsively and tried to hold still, hoping not to throw up with both men still here. The previous two mornings, she had slept later than them and had privacy to vomit, brush her teeth and cautiously eat breakfast. Before that it had just been queasiness. She would feel better after she ate. Stephanie sat up slowly.

"You okay, Babe?" Ranger asked. Tank rubbed her back gently.

Stephanie swallowed again and tried to breathe past the unrest in her belly. "I will not throw up on the floor," she muttered very softly to herself like a mantra. Ranger's eyes narrowed as he watched her. Julie's mother had looked almost exactly like Stephanie while dealing with morning sickness through her pregnancy.

"Feeling sick?" Tank asked. "I can handle the client meeting at ten myself," he assured her when she nodded slightly to him. "You go back to sleep."

She nodded again, still swallowing repeatedly as her stomach came closer to rebellion. The movement of her head ended up being too much. She bolted towards the bathroom. Tank handed her a damp washcloth for her face once she finished dry heaving.

"I'm okay," she assured him. "Can I have a minute?" She tried to smile for him, hide the sick dread that was making the queasiness more intense so he would give her a minute to make her other discomfort stop. She couldn't remember when her last period had been. Her birth control was known for lightening or stopping menstruation so she hadn't been worried at first but she had been feeling vaguely queasy for a while now. With the start of actual vomiting the last few days, she was terrified that it was something worse than just a virus or something she had eaten.

Tank didn't like what he saw when he looked her over but he stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door. He could hear Ranger on the phone in the living room, demanding that Bobby get up here now. He put a hand on Ranger's shoulder as he finished the brief call.

"She didn't have really much of anything in her stomach," Tank told him when Ranger disconnected. "But she's really shaky and pale."

"You let her in there alone?" Ranger growled.

"She had to use the toilet, man. You know how she gets in the morning. Wants in there right away."

"Shit," Ranger said softly. Tank raised an eyebrow and Ranger explained, "I was hoping she would wait for Bobby."

"She doesn't need help to pee," Tank observed. "And then she can be comfortable while Bobby pokes at her and gives her something for the virus."

"I'm worried that she's not sick," Ranger replied.

Tank stared at him blankly for a moment before he understood. His feelings swirled behind the blank face mask that he slammed down. There was fear, yes. His life was barely a place for a committed relationship and certainly no place for a child. Stephanie had said that she didn't want children. A small part of him was hopeful though, wondering what Bombshell's child would be like. They could adjust their lives for that. Learn. It might be a good enough reason for all of them to change their lifestyle.

Stephanie emptied her bladder, dry heaved a few more times, brushed her teeth and was gathering the courage to leave the bathroom when the pounding on the door began. She emerged just as Bobby let himself in. He wore only a pair of sweat pants and a gray T-shirt that said, "I used to care but now I take a pill for that." It clung to him damply, as if he had thrown it on without taking the time to dry himself after his shower. He carried the backpack that he used as a medical bag.

"I hear that you're not feeling well," he told her, setting the backpack on the counter and digging in it for a moment and pulling out a device. "Can I take your temperature?"

Ranger glared at him, wanting Bobby to do whatever was necessary to figure out what was wrong with Stephanie but Tank relaxed, glad that Bobby wasn't demanding. Stephanie never responded well to that. She was smiling at him now and sitting on a kitchen stool to let him run the device over her forehead. It beeped and Bobby looked at the reading. "Just a tiny bit high, Bomber," he told her. "I think it would be much higher if you had a serious virus. How are you feeling now?"

"Just a little nauseous," she replied. "And hungry," she added as an afterthought. "Will someone call Ella please?"

As Tank made the call, Bobby pulled out another device and snapped on a pair of exam gloves. He gave her a soft explanation and pricked her finger, expertly collecting the drop of blood and feeding it to the machine. Ranger hovered anxiously and Stephanie reached over to take his hand.

Bobby frowned at the machine's read out. "You're blood sugar is really low. Sometimes people get upset stomachs when their blood sugar is too low."

Tank moved past them into the kitchen and opened the refridgerator. He held up a pint container of berries. Bobby nodded and passed them over to Stephanie who took a few and ate them cautiously as Bobby continued. "Low blood sugar is why pregnant women get morning sickness."

"I can't get pregnant!" she protested loudly. "You know that. You give me the shots yourself every three months," she continued more calmly, glaring at Bobby.

"Birth control isn't perfect," Bobby reminded her. "The shot you're on has a failure rate of around 3-5 pregnancies per thousand women. Those are good odds but it's you Bomber. Anything is possible." Stephanie glared at Bobby then glanced to Ranger. He was wearing his blank face. Tank was too. It was the thing she feared and she couldn't tell how they felt about the possibility.

Ella brought food and Stephanie started her breakfast hungrily. The men watched her for a minute and then exchanged glances. It was clear that Stephanie wanted to stay in denial land but if she was pregnant, they needed to know no matter what she decided to do about it and knowing early gave her the most possible options.

"When was your last period, Steph?" Tank asked gently.

"The shot can stop periods entirely," Stephanie replied, glancing from her food up to Bobby. "It's a known side effect."

"Babe."

Stephanie looked up at him. "I don't know. Okay? Check my phone. There's an app for that."

"There's an app for everything," Bobby replied, allowing her to distract him into showing her the cool medic targeted apps in his phone.

Ranger retrieved Stephanie's phone and with some searching, found the app but had to bring it to her to open up because there was a password on it. She checked it and read off the date reluctantly. Bobby downloaded an app that he'd never had any need for and plugged in the date. "So if you are pregnant, you'd be 6 weeks and three days along," he told her. "Conception would have been about four weeks ago. Luckily that means one of these guys and not Morelli, right?"

Ranger and Tank exchanged dark looks. They would have been willing to be there for Stephanie and love her child no matter who the father was but the possibility of it being Morelli made them feel extremely jealous and protective of her. They were relieved that if this was happening, it was one of them.

"Right," Stephanie agreed with Bobby in a soft voice.

Bobby dug in his bag for a specimen cup and handed it to Steph. "You know what to do with this. Then we'll know."

"I don't have to go," she told him. "I went right before you got here."

Ranger sighed. He hadn't been fast enough to prevent that but Bobby didn't seem too concerned. He dug out a needle, hub, tourniquet, and vaccutainer tube. "Blood test is more accurate anyway," Bobby replied. "It will just take a few hours."

"You were prepared for this," Ranger accused him as Stephanie stuck out her arm and continued to plow through her breakfast, all nausea apparently gone.

Bobby's hands were steady on his tools as he did the stick to take the required blood. His voice was calm. "You trust me to take care of her medically," Bobby reminded Ranger. "This is one of the things I have to be ready for to take care of a female, especially when we all know the three of you have been fucking like bunnies."

"Watch it." The warning was a low growl and came unexpectedly from Tank.

"If this is positive and she decides to continue the pregnancy," Bobby continued blandly, holding up the tube with one hand and pressing a square of gauze on the inside of Stephanie's elbow with the other. "I'll be the one who has to go take an OB refresher just in case. Even though I hope you'll find a regular midwife or OB that you trust for regular things, I know you'll expect me to manage in an emergency even though it's definitely not my field of expertise so I'll make sure I'm ready."

Ranger thanked Bobby for coming up as Bobby wrapped Stephanie's arm and packed up his things and asked when he expected the results. Bobby glanced at his watch and explained that he had to send it out to a lab so even with a STAT request, they couldn't expect the results until between 1100 and 1200 hours.

"Around lunchtime," Ranger translated for Stephanie.

"Eat a little bit every hour or two," Bobby advised Stephanie. "It will keep your blood sugar up and keep you from getting sick."

"I'm not pregnant," Stephanie insisted firmly from denial land now that she was feeling better.

"But your blood sugar WAS dangerously low," Bobby replied. "You need to take better care of yourself."

"We'll take care of it," Ranger assured Bobby.

"Thanks man," Tank told him as the door shut. He was hunched over with his elbows on the counter, his back to Stephanie and Ranger. They needed to talk about this.

"If you were pregnant," Tank asked, "will you kill the baby?"

"I'm not pregnant," Stephanie insisted again but there was a note of doubt in her voice.

"If you ever become pregnant?" Tank pushed.

"I don't know," she replied. "I wouldn't make a good mother. My life doesn't lend itself to the family thing." Then she considered the way he had phrased that question. "Do you want kids?"

"Not on purpose," Tank explained. "I don't have any right to bring a child into the danger that is my life. Our lives. But if it happened, maybe we could make some changes, make it work. That would be our responsibility to the baby."

"What about you Ranger?" Stephanie asked, somewhat surprised by Tank's response. "Do you want more children?"

"I already have one child that I can't see for fear that being associated with me will put her in danger. It has put her in danger despite that. I wouldn't want to put another child in danger. It would be better not to have them." Stephanie felt like her chest was being squeezed by a tight band. She couldn't get a deep breath.

"And if she is pregnant already?" Tank asked him.

"I'm here," he replied. "I'm not going anywhere. If she wants to continue the pregnancy, I'll still be right here. We'll figure out what is necessary and take every precaution." The pressure eased from Stephanie's chest. He was staying. He wouldn't be pissed at her or try to stay away from her again for her own good. Maybe that relief was too soon because Ranger was asking her, "What about you, Babe? Feeling maternal urges?"

"I wouldn't want to get pregnant on purpose," she assured him. "You're both right about that and during the pregnancy at least, I'd have to make a lot more adjustments and changes than you would. If it's already happened, I don't know. I guess we'll have to talk about that if the test is positive and decide. I don't think it's a decision you can make until it becomes necessary to make it. You can think you know but until you face it, how can you be sure?"

"Okay, Babe," Ranger assured her. "Maybe we can be more careful in the future?" he suggested, "Regardless of what the test says this time? Since none of us want to be parents."

"I'm taking the shots," she reminded them. "Other than surgical sterilization, which is a major surgery for a woman or an IUD, which they don't recommend for women with physical jobs because of the risk of uterine perforation, the shot has the best success rate."

"I was thinking we could be significantly more careful about condom use," Ranger replied. Stephanie made a face. "At least until I can get a vasectomy."

"Shit," Tank muttered.

"Come on," Ranger urged him. "We're in this together."

"If we make the changes for one baby, why not have a second one?" Tank countered, thinking that while he would love Ranger and Stephanie's child, if they had to make the changes for a child, a second one couldn't be that much trouble to give him a chance to have a child of his own blood too.

Stephanie considered that. Would she want the baby to be a perfect mix of her and Ranger? Or of her and Tank? If she were intending to get pregnant, would she want a specific father? Definitely not. She'd want both of them to be the father if possible. She knew they'd both behave as the father. Since she couldn't have a baby with both of them the father, one baby of each would be perfect. She didn't want there to be any children at all but if she was going to be forced to be a mother, she wanted two children. "Lets wait for the test results before you schedule vasectomies," Stephanie agreed with Tank.

Everyone showered together. It was a tight squeeze but they needed to touch each other as they all worried about the test results, to stay connected. Afterwards, Ranger partnered with Binkie in the field. Tank and Stephanie visited the client, who was wary of Tank but absolutely loved talking to Stephanie. He was giving them more business because of it too.

They met back at the office before lunch, all anxiously crowding into Bobby's medical suite at Haywood, waiting for the lab to fax over the test results. The beta HCG test was negative. No pregnancy. Ranger, Tank, and Stephanie cheered and hugged until Bobby cleared his throat.

"If you're not pregnant but you're still having blood sugar issues, we need to do a few more tests," Bobby explained to Stephanie. The mood in the room immediately sobered as he drew a few more vials of blood. "We'll get it figured out," he promised her.

"And we'll be right here," Tank assured her as Ranger hugged her from behind, wordlessly making the same promise.

* * *

**A/N - My muse is very prolific at the moment but she has ADD so I'm jumping between projects. No promises about when the next one will come to me.**

**Help me out with some motivation. Give me the emotional high of a review to ride. If you don't want to admit that you're reading, log out and post anonymously.**

** :-)**


	2. Dessert

Warning for some light M/M sexual contact towards the end and a tiny bit of voyeurism. Stephanie likes to watch, wouldn't you? I tried to keep it M rated.

* * *

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

* * *

**Life in Chains - 02 - Dessert**

_(Four days after chapter 1, Stephanie POV)_

We had been using Tank's truck a lot in the last few weeks and tonight apparently wasn't an exception. Ranger and Tank had a few heartbeats of ESP that resulted in Tank tossing Ranger the keys. "Where are we going?" I couldn't resist asking once we were moving. It was supposed to be a surprise. Ranger took my hand and stroked it softly with his thumb. Tank's hand on my leg, barely brushing the top of my thigh high stocking tried to distract me.

"Dessert, Bombshell," Tank replied

"I'm not allowed to have dessert anymore," I reminded them.

"Everything in moderation," Tank assured me. "You've done great and a little treat with some protein after will be okay. You'll go crazy if you don't let yourself have any wiggle room."

"So where are we going for this super special dessert?" I pushed.

"Trust me a little,"Ranger said. I tried, I really did, but the longer we were in the car, the antsier I got. It was dark and I wasn't as familiar with this part of Jersey as I was with Trenton, which we had left behind an hour ago, and I had no freaking clue where we were. I wasn't even sure what direction we were driving. We ended up in a rural area, going through a gate and up a long drive past signs that warned "Members Only" at regular intervals. It looked like a spa or maybe a golf resort. Ranger parked fairly close to the front of the lot. Tank helped me out the passenger side door.

"No valet?" I asked. It wasn't really the question I most wanted to ask. I was dying of curiosity. It was a question I had a chance of getting answered.

"There is one. We're not using him today," Ranger explained.

"So what is this place?" I finally broke down to ask.

"Trust me?" he asked again. I nodded, though I had reservations about that. Last time I had trusted him with a surprise, he made me jump out of an airplane and then taken me to a busy and wild sex club. Of course, I was looking forward to doing both again so maybe I could trust him to make plans. His lips quirked in an almost smile and he put an arm around my shoulders.

"You'll see in a minute, Babe. The only thing is, anything you see here can't leave here. If you know someone in here, don't mention it outside of here where it can be overheard." It sounded like what they had said about Winter's Sanctuary too. That made me nervous about going in, but it also made the tiny lace scrap of my panties damp.

We entered one set of glass doors and went inside out of the elements. It looked like the reception area of a spa, though there was no one manning the desk. There were several inner set of doors, blacked out opaque with little labels on them. They said things like, 'Spa', 'Weight Room', 'Dining Room'. Each had a card reader beside the door. A card materialized in Tank's hand and he swiped it in the dining room door. It clicked open and when we entered, we were in a different type of reception area.

It seemed just like any restaurant at first glance but then I realized that the hostess was dressed in corset, stockings, the tiniest possible skirt, and sky high fuck me pumps. One of the bus boys, farther in the restaurant was wearing only a white g-string. On the walls were pictures. Some had women and men tied up in elaborate and somehow beautiful rope bondage. Others were less blatantly sexual but in all there was a recurring theme. One person in them was clearly subordinate to the other.

We were led to a table and the hostess somehow managed to kneel in her costume. Ranger helped me sit between him and Tank and then laid his hand on the back of her neck. I wondered what that felt like. There would be weight to it. I wasn't sure entirely what was going on, but he and she both behaved as if this were all completely normal. I felt like I had stepped into the twilight zone. "Thank you, Katelyn Please bring us the dessert selections."

She stood when he removed his hand. As she walked through the dining room, I noticed that despite it not being a crowded space, there were several people who reached out to fondle her as she passed. She didn't react like any other waitress I've ever seen. She didn't try to avoid them or get upset. She almost seemed to welcome the touches. The staff at Winter's Sanctuary had allowed the same type of familiarity.

We were brought glasses of water by a man pushing a cart with lidded dishes. He was scantily dressed too but he didn't seem to even notice his near nudity. He lifted the lid off of each plate in turn, describing each dessert in detail. They all looked fantastic. I picked one after a lot of internal debate and asked for the syrup on the side. He apparently memorized my order, Tank's cheesecake request, and the much healthier fruit dessert that Ranger ordered. There were never any signs of impatience while we considered. No sense of being rushed if our conversation detoured from the dessert selection. The man was here to serve and he was willing, even happy, to wait on our pleasure. It was very different from most restaurants and a heady rush of power.

"Look around you," Ranger urged me, when the waiter had retreated with the cart. The other diners seemed to run the spectrum to normal clothing that wouldn't be out of place in Pino's back in Trenton to formal wear to leather or vinyl fetish wear. At some tables, some of the diners were kneeling on the floor, being fed from the plates of the people at the table. I stared at one of them near us long enough that Ranger noticed.

"Do you like that, Babe?" Ranger asked.

"Why are they doing it?" I asked. My panties had been ruined since I noticed the similarities to Winter's Sanctuary but I felt a renewed flood of dampness.

Ranger shrugged. "They're very strong," he explained. "Strong enough that they're willing to be second, trusting that the person in control will take care of them completely. Think of them as beloved pets. They please their master and all of their needs will be met."

I pictured myself in that girl's position, sitting at Tank's feet, eating from his fingers. I could lean my head on his leg, just like that and he would run his fingers through my hair, caressing me. They both gave me a wolf grins and I wondered just how much of my thoughts they had caught from my face. These two would meet any need I would let them. There would be no more worries about bills or skips. Being a human pet seemed like a very tempting prospect and I wasn't sure why that sounded so much better than being married to anyone or being a burg wife. Stop it! I yelled internally at my hormones.

They only stuttered, changed direction, and then picked up with renewed vigor. This time I pictured Ranger on the floor between my chair and Tank's. Maybe even shirtless and collared. I could feed him his fruit dessert from my fingers, feel him lick them clean. He had a talented tongue. He could lean his head in Tank's leg, like a puppy begging for attention. I loved watching the two of them touch and seeing Ranger let go of all that careful control he carried.

Our dessert arrived quickly but when Ranger reached for his fork, I pulled his plate back out of his reach.

"Babe?" Ranger questioned, raising an eyebrow. I looked at a male on the floor with someone, maybe his mistress or whatever, feeding him from her plate.

Tank smiled, grasping what I wanted but he didn't let me off the hook. "Ask for what you want, Bombshell," Tank coached. I hated this part. They had been trying to teach me this stuff but it was so much easier in the heat of the moment and so difficult and embarrassing to discuss what I wanted calmly. Tank continued, "That way everything is clear and Ric can say yes or no."

I felt the warmth as my face flushed. I looked at the other couples doing it. Winter's Sanctuary was a place about sex and frantic energy. It was safe but intimidating. This place was quieter and gentler but the undercurrents of ran deeper. Safety. Trust. Love. "Will you sit on the floor between Tank and me?" I asked, timidly.

Ranger and Tank looked at each other for a long moment and Tank nodded once, firmly. Ranger's shoulders tensed, straining his shirt seams. His face was hard. I was trying to figure out why the request had pissed him off when he could say 'no' when I realized the problem wasn't refusing. The problem was that he wanted to agree.

"I've got your back, Ric," Tank told him in a voice that you'd use to talk a jumper away from the ledge. Ranger closed his eyes for a moment. Tank put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed Ranger's shoulder. I could feel the strength of of Tank's grip by the hardness of the muscles against my shoulders. Didn't that hurt Ranger? Ranger's breath came out in a content sigh though and his own muscle tension seeped away.

After a moment, Ranger stood. Tank shifted in his chair slightly farther from mine and Ranger sat on the floor between us, leaning his head against Tank's leg, eyes closed. I was stunned at the difference in him. Watchful, ever on guard and in control Ranger was just melted away. It was rare to see him this relaxed and never happened in public.

Tank saw my confusion. He ran a hand through Ranger's hair, stroked his face and neck. "It's exhausting to be in control and in charge all of the time, Bombshell. He needs this occasionally," Tank explained. "He know's we'll take care of him."

"Knows you'll take care of him," I corrected Tank. I felt a twinge of jealousy but not as much as I would have expected. Tank had been watching Ranger's back for a very long time.

"Give it time," Tank advised. I told took a piece of Ranger's fruit, dipped it in one of the sauces, chocolate, and fed him. He licked my fingers clean after each bite. Completely absorbed in the food. I fed him all of his dessert, part of mine, and a bite of Tank's cheesecake. He never objected to what I gave him. Never even opened his eyes.

Someone other than our waitress brought Tank's credit card and the signature slip over. I had noticed how much rarer it was for the diners to interact here than Winter's Sanctuary. People went there mostly for exhibition and socialization. They came here to enjoy a meal or whatever else was offered without hiding behind their public personas. This person was a woman, dressed more conservatively than the waitress.

"Sasha said you were here together," the woman said to Tank, her body language excluding me. "I just had to see for myself."

She reached down, looking like she was going to pet Ranger but Tank blocked the movement by grabbing her wrist. His jaw was tense. Ranger's previously languid posture gained some tension and his eyes popped open, like he recognized the voice but wanted to confirm.

"Mine," Tank growled at the woman. The simmering rage in his voice was darker and deadlier than I had ever heard from him. I shifted to sit sideways in my chair and tried to massage some of the tension from Ranger's shoulders. Mine too. Not hers. Tank shoved the woman's wrist away from him and she took a step back, looking sad and hurt and confused.

Tank gained a firm enough grip on his reaction to introduce me. "Stephanie, this is Carrie. Carrie, this is our Stephanie."

My eyes widened. 'That Carrie?' I wondered, meeting Tank's eyes. Tank nodded to confirm my guess. My eyes narrowed, glaring up at her. Tank signed the credit card slip, asking her in that forced calm voice when she had moved to the area. She gave him some answer that I didn't register. I just kept petting Ranger and let Tank manage the encounter. I was afraid I couldn't maintain his level of politeness and wondered how they had gotten through meeting Nick and Aaron without shooting either one. I touched Ranger's gun. It was easily accessible in its holster the way he was sitting but he put his hand over mine and whispered, "Babe," in a voice filled with enough heat to drain any other thoughts from my head. Tank replied to her and handed the slip back to her. Carrie made a hasty retreat away from the barely masked hostility at our table.

Tank put a hand against the back of Ranger's neck, squeezing slightly. "We good?" he asked.

"Can I shoot her?" I asked.

"I managed not to," Tank replied. Ranger chuckled and Tank continued, "She doesn't realize how lucky she was. Bet she thought all was forgiven and instead any one of us would rather be hiding a body than talking to her. These circles are small though. No way to avoid her if she's local now."

"Does that mean I'll meet more of your old fuck buddies?" I asked. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Tank shrugged and I could tell he meant maybe.

"You'll like most of them, Babe," Ranger assured me. "They're good people. You liked Star."

That was true, though I hadn't been sure at the time that they had been more than friends. Knowing that little tidbit didn't seem to change my opinion though.

Tank shook Ranger slightly back and forth. "Let's get out of here." We exited without further incident or hostile encounters. Ranger held my hand. Tank kept his gun hand free but his off hand still rested possessively on the back of Ranger's neck. He ordered Ranger to give me the keys and to my shock, Ranger actually handed them over. Tank put Ranger in the muddle of the truck for once.

I hadn't even gotten out of the parking lit when I figured out why. The sensual mood earlier from Ranger letting Tank take charge and letting himself relax to be taken care of had been shifted by the encounter with Carrie. Tank wanted to possess Ranger or reaffirm their connection or something.

Tank had opened his pants. His hand was on the back of Ranger's head, though there was no real need to force him down. I had trouble keeping enough focus on the road not to land in a ditch. I couldn't keep from watching and admiring Ranger's skill and the pleasure on Tank's face. I squeezed my legs together, rubbing my clit against the seam in my lace underwear but it wasn't enough and my focus was divided from the driving. I was hot and horny and frustrated by the time Ranger got to swallow down Tank's cum and tuck him back into his pants. Home was far too far away to suit me.

* * *

**A/N - Maybe more of a diversion and an encounter with their past than an actual short story. Fun to write though. I hope fun to read too.**

**Help me out with some motivation. Give me the emotional high of a review to ride. If you don't want to admit that you're reading, log out and post anonymously.**

**:-)**


	3. Distraction

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

* * *

**Life in Chains - 03 - Distraction**

_(the Wednesday after last chapter)_

Stephanie plugged her usb drive into Ranger's computer and leaned into his back, nibbling on his ear as she pulled up the file with her search results. "This guy would be perfect for a distraction. He has slipped past the teams sent to get him twice but I could get him to handcuff himself and follow me outside."

"This guy is dangerous, Babe," Ranger told her. "I don't want you anywhere near him."

"I could do it," Stephanie assured him. "I probably wouldn't have any trouble. I meant what I said about him handcuffing himself. Rumor mill has him liking to play slave. He's considered even more perverted than Vinnie."

"We'll find another way."

"This is the way."

"Your safety is more important than the money from this bond," Ranger told her. "We don't want you in his sights if he gets back out."

"So what you're telling me is that you'd send me to distractions, into dangerous situations, when the skip might get back out and find me alone but now that I'm almost never alone outside of Haywood, distractions are no longer safe for me to do?"

"Let's get Tank in on this," Ranger replied, somewhat desperately. He knew he had just talked himself into a corner here and needed backup to help him get out.

Tank received a call on his cell about Stephanie wanting to use distraction on Robinson. His blood ran cold for a minute but when he thought more about it, it was probably the best way to get the skip. He didn't like it but no one ever promised that loving Stephanie would be an easy thing to do. This type of thing was part of her life and she enjoyed it. Who was he to put a stop to her fun? And the thought of type of outfit she'd use to distract Robinson made his pants significantly tighter.

"Trouble with Bombshell?" Binkie asked him when he swung the Range man Explorer they were using into a u-turn to head back to the office. Tank nodded and watched out of the corner of his eye as Binkie's normally expressive face hardened into a look that promised retribution and then closed off entirely into his version of blank face, bland and full of baby-faced innocence. Despite breaking some traffic laws, Tank wasn't soon enough. Stephanie's conversation with Ranger had continued and degenerated to arguing. As Tank and Binkie started up the stairs, she was reaching her limit.

"Why is it suddenly not okay for me to do distractions?" Stephanie demanded in Ranger's office. "You'll be there to back me up, just like usual. I'll be safe."

"I worry about you, Babe."

"Wrapping me in bubble wrap isn't the answer! You sound just like Joe!" Stephanie shouted in reply to his even tone. She stomped out the door, slamming it behind her, and was halfway through the control room when she slammed into Tank's broad chest.

His arms came around her to keep her from stumbling back. He liked to hold her too much for the murmur that ran through the control room to bother him. Over Stephanie's head, he watched Binkie meet every pair of interested eyes with a glare. Tank hid his smile in Stephanie's hair. Binkie preferred to sleep with Hector and those two were a good match after hours but they both loved Stephanie like protective brothers. If the guys weren't careful enough, they'd meet a part of baby-faced Binkie that it was better to let classified and sleeping. Of course, if they did meet that part of the man's temper, it would still stay safely classified. Dead men couldn't tell tales and Hector excelled at hiding the evidence.

His shirt was getting damp as Stephanie shook slightly and cried silent frustrated tears into his shoulder. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" Tank asked her.

"Ranger is just like Joe."

"Ranger hurt you?" Binkie sounded mostly stunned and disbelieving but there was a hint of something darker in his tone.

"He just wants me barefoot and...well, not pregnant...but tucked into a gilded cage."

"Babe," Ranger protested from behind her. He laid a hand on her back and she flinched, nestling closer to Tank.

Lester materialized from somewhere and made a hand gesture to the group standing in the control room with too many eyes pretending not to watch. "Take it upstairs," he suggested.

"It's work stuff," Stephanie protested.

"Then take it into an office and scramble the cameras, Beautiful. You're distracting the men on monitors."

Ranger and Lester did some ESP and nodded to each other. As they passed him, Tank did some sort of complicated hand gesture with Lester and said, "Thanks, Man." Stephanie grabbed his arm and said, "You're good with strategy and less involved. We need you for this discussion." The four of them went into Ranger's office and Binkie stood guard on the closed door.

The consensus opinion was that Ranger was being overprotective. His fears were his and just part of loving someone in their line of work. He'd have to deal with them and still let her be her and do her job. Tank didn't like the idea much either but she had a sound plan and distractions had been part of her life for a while. Lester liked her plan, if Bobby signed off on it medically.

"I'm fine, Lester," Stephanie growled.

"Babe."

Tank quietly sent a text to Bobby as Stephanie rounded on Ranger. "Yes, my blood sugar has been a little out of whack. I need to eat frequently to keep it up and feel well. I need to be more careful. I'm not sick."

"You could be if you're not careful," Ranger pointed out. "Rollercoaster blood sugars like yours are often the precursor to insulin resistance and type two diabetes. I want you with me for a long time to come." He had been doing his research and Tank agreed with the content of what Ranger was saying. Tank just didn't see the need to push her about it when she was already upset about them being over protective. She was an adult and knew the consequences.

Bobby came and backed Stephanie up. As long as she kept her diet under control, there was no reason she couldn't chase skips, do a distraction, or jump out of airplanes. She was not diabetic yet, just potentially close to it. The diet was just to avoid those lows that made her feel like crap in the mornings and help keep her from becoming diabetic anytime soon.

The distraction plans were made and set for Friday night at a bar known to be a pickup place for people with tastes outside of the norm. Stephanie was warned repeatedly that this wasn't a safe place like Winter's Sanctuary or the restaurant they had gone to over the weekend. Stephanie was absolutely embarrassed to admit that she had been to either place in front of the others on the team. Lester didn't pause in his drawing team deployment around the exits on the printed out club layout map. He didn't even tease her. And Bobby just recommended the seafood sampler platter to her if they went back again, said it was excellent. The easy acceptance seemed weird to her. She was finding out things about the core team she had never suspected and wondered how many other people that she never would have expected got involved in that sort of thing.

Getting ready to go to the bar, Stephanie felt very powerful. The thigh high leather boots she was wearing were butter soft and super comfortable, despite the pointed toes. The heels were actually shorter than her usual, making her stride confident. She tried to channel Star as she walked into the living room of Ranger's apartment on seven to hear their opinion. Tank was going to be inside too and was dressed the part of a slave, leather pants, boots, collar, and cuffs. A fishnet shirt didn't leave anything to the imagination.

She wasn't sure where he had stashed his weapons but he looked good enough to eat and Stephanie took a step towards him, an involuntary low moan slipping from her. Ranger was dressed in takedown mode, bristling with guns and knives. He was hot too. He was always hot but Tank in the leather pants was irresistible. She tried to distract herself from how yummy they looked but didn't succeed. She was drawn to Tank, her lips unerringly finding his as one of her hands found a nipple poking out of his shirt and gave it a firm pinch. He groaned. Ranger finally had to pry them apart.

"Skip?" he reminded them, steel in his voice. "You wanted to do this Stephanie. Everyone is already there. Arrangements are made. Play later."

"Later," Tank promised, his attention snapping back to work mode. Stephanie still looked dazed but she followed them out of the apartment. They used the Cayenne, since it was work. Stephanie asked about her mic on the drive and Ranger put it on her, clipping it to the center wire of her super push up bra as Tank drove. He let his hands roam enough that it became Tank's turn to remind him that they were supposed to be working.

Derek Robinson, the skip, was in the bar when she entered and his eyes fixed on her instantly. One of the newer Rangemen, Tommy, was behind the bar and his eyes fixed on her instantly too. Tommy was really new, not long out of the military, and always had quiet snide things to say to Stephanie. She didn't mention them to Ranger or Tank, not wanting to be responsible for the kid getting hurt. The result though was that they didn't know how she felt about him. Luckily, there were safe Rangeman guys here too. Binkie and Hector were playing pool. Ram, Woody, and Ranger were outside. Tank was seated at a table near the rear entrance and the restrooms. All she had to depend on Tommy to do was make her drinks virgin and stay out of the way.

Ram was positioned to cover the rear from a distance with a rifle loaded with tranquilizer in case Robinson and Stephanie got past Tank. Ranger and Woody were at the front entrance of the club. Ranger listened to every word coming over the mic as Stephanie charmed the skip, occasionally growling a comment. He hated letting her be in there with that guy without him but leaving the club was the most dangerous part. He also had to be here to get Robinson and keep her safe when they came out. He couldn't be in two places at once, but he vowed that next time, Tank would be the one sitting outside worrying.

Tank watched them talk, hearing the words over his high tech nearly invisible ear piece. This wasn't the easy flirty slut she usually played. This was a high powered woman who wanted a man at her mercy for the night. Derek Robinson desperately wanted to be that man. When their heads leaned close, talking softly as Stephanie used what she had learned from him and Ranger to convince the skip that she knew exactly how to make a man happy to beg, Tank wanted to cross the room and tear him away from her. He suspected that Stephanie was blushing but in the dim bar and under all that makeup, the skip probably couldn't tell. When Robinson knelt on the grimy bar floor to kiss her pointy toed boot and beg for the pleasure of following her home, Tank crushed his glass. Watching this and trying to keep his mind on work was torture. Next time, he wanted to be outside. Ranger could sit in here and watch the next slimy skip try to get their woman.

Stephanie was right about getting the skip to handcuff himself and follow her outside, his cock hard and pulsing already, just from her talking to him. No one was hurt except the skip, who was unusually clumsy getting across the parking lot and into the waiting Explorer.

While Stephanie took one of her long baths in Tank's condo, the two men lay in the bed, letting the sounds of the movie on Tank's iPad cover their argument of why their place in the takedown had been the harder one. By the time Stephanie emerged from the tub, they had agreed to try the other side next time, resigned themselves to the fact that there would be a next time, and made plans for their revenge. Seeing her in that outfit and boots and hearing the things she promised the skip had made them both hard and aching in the middle of a fucking takedown. And as Ranger had learned early on, she never thought about sex after a distraction so there would be no promised 'later' that night, maybe in the morning.


End file.
